The Survey: Reformation to the Present course provides more than an introduction to church history. It helps people ask the key questions Christians have faced over two millennia—and provides answers for those questions for today.
Session 1
The Reformation and Martin Luther
Martin Luther's rediscovery of grace changed everything. Little did he realize how this insight would shake the church and society of his day, and how it would continue to have profound implications to the present day.
Session 2
The Rise of Denominations
This lesson looks at how the Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, and Anabaptist traditions began, why the Reformation was followed by decades of religious bloodshed, and what role the emergence of religious tolerance played in the formation of denominations.
Session 3
The Awakenings
This study looks at the 18th-century Great Awakening in Britain and America, and briefly at the 19th-century American frontier revivals. During these "awakenings," Christians discussed and debated the place of emotions in the walk of faith—a question that still faces believers today.
Session 4
Missions Explosion
Modern Christians struggle with the multiple demands of job, family, and ministry. Some people want to be disciples of Jesus, but only as long as it doesn't keep them from living a reasonable, normal life. During the 19th century, Christians faced the same dilemmas. This study examines the missionary activity of that time, and the tremendous impact it had on the Christianity of our day.
Session 5
Modernism
This study examines the effect of the Enlightenment upon the church, and how the ideas of the 18th and 19th centuries led to the modernist-fundamentalist conflicts of the 20th century. It also explores how Christians today might interact with modern scholarship and science.
Session 6
The New Protestants
Fundamentalists have stressed purity of belief based on a literal reading of God's Word. Evangelicals have stressed evangelizing people in ways that relate to a modern world. And Pentecostals and Charismatics have stressed the presence and power of the Holy Spirit and his supernatural gifts for Christian ministry. This study looks at each of these important groups.
Most sessions use articles from the award-winning Christian History magazine—and they're included free with your lesson.
Total number of pages - 91
